Khusela Bhele Nduku
Khusela Bhele Nduku is a Systems Alliance Marine Corps officer and graduate of the Interplanetary Combatives Academy. Biography Early Life The first of five children to Cebisa Bhele and Khwezi Nduku, Sela grew up in a family that was large on love, if small of funds in the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. “Khusela” means protector in the native Xhosa, and his parents never let him forget it. He was meant to be his siblings’ protector from the second his first little sister was born. It was a role that he took seriously and performed without complaint. While his home was a safe haven filled with love and warmth, the streets outside were far from it. Violence often found its way into their neighborhood, and gangs were a constant threat. Sela learned to street fight from a young age, and was blessed with an intimidating physique, but a more impressive intellect. It was the latter that helped to provide a bit of relief for himself and his family when one of the local gang bosses encountered him as a pre-adolescent. The boss asked Sela to join his gang as a runner and Sela refused—something that rarely happened, and even more rarely happened with impunity. When he was asked why he didn’t want to help his community by joining the gang, Sela responded he would help his community by becoming a lawyer and putting away bad men like him. This both amused and impressed the boss who instructed his men to leave the boy alone and let him try...but that if he ever dropped out of school, his men would be back for him. That isn’t to say that Sela didn’t have his share of fun growing up, far from it. He loved playing football and rugby, and he was an excellent student, even managing to leverage his skill at both into a scholarship to the University of Cape Town. The first of his family to receive such an opportunity, his parents and brothers and sisters were so very proud of him and insisted he go. Better yet, he could remain at home to continue to look over his siblings while he pursued his studies. Sela chose to study law, wanting to help end the corruption he saw all around him growing up. It was a way to help protect all of his people, not just his family. His dedication to his studies earned him top honors, and he graduated near the top of his class, even securing a full ride to Harvard Law School in the UNAS, one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. While Sela’s pursuits were very much anchored on Earth, his closest sibling, Jabari, who was just shy of five years his junior was enamored by space and the possibilities it held with the opening of the mass relays. His brother often begged Sela to come with him, and they could discover the new galaxy together. Jabari wanted to explore the galaxy, and chose to enlist in the Systems Alliance as soon as he was eligible. On the night he left, he asked Sela to join him once more, but Sela’s dream was to pursue law, not the stars. He declined, but wished Jabari well. His brother’s first posting after training was one of the new colonies, Mindoir. Sela had been nearing the end of his coursework and about to begin his practicum, the final step to receive the law degree he’d been working toward for most of his life, when he received the news of the pirate raid on the colony. The loss of his brother almost broke his mother, and Sela blamed himself for not being able to protect him. If he had only gone with Jabari when his brother had asked him, he would have been there. Within a week of the funeral, Sela dropped out of Harvard and was accepted into officer's training school in the Systems Alliance Marine Corps. He threw himself into his training the same way he’d applied himself to his coursework. He didn’t just want to succeed, but excel in every aspect he could. His stature and years of street fighting and playing football and rugby made him a natural at close quarters combat where the strength he possessed and agility he learned were natural assets. Sela was more than just a strong grunt, however, and it didn’t take long for his superiors to see his potential with tactics. He used his intellect on the battlefield and was capable of adapting strategy on the fly to achieve mission objectives when parameters changed. In one particularly harrowing mission, Sela, a Lieutenant at the time, was ordered to take out a fueling station known to be used by a pirate gang in the system. It was meant to be an easy in and out with minimal enemy contacts, but the station was actually just the front of a deep underground base full of pirates. When they kicked the hornets’ nest, the pirates quickly stormed them and were poised to overrun the greatly outnumbered squad. Through quick thinking and level-headed leadership, Sela managed to hold out with his men long enough for Alliance forces to arrive and take out the entire base. While several of his men were injured, including Sela who lost his left eye in the battle, not one of them died. This so impressed his superiors that they recommended him for ICT. Being able to keep his men alive was a huge boost for Sela. It didn’t fill the void left by the loss of his brother, but it lessened the ache a little. If ICT would provide him even greater opportunities to do the same, he was all in. To that end, when they replaced his eye, he opted for an enhanced model that allowed for real-time tactical scan upon activation, and improved sightings for long range targeting. The next five years were spent in ICT working his way up the levels. When he was finally awarded his N7 at age 32, the dream he’d once had just a decade before at becoming a lawyer seemed a lifetime ago. In the course of his career, Sela developed a reputation as a leader who’d do almost anything to protect his men, and while that had managed to miraculously not compromise his mission objectives thus far, such luck would eventually run out. Knowing this, Sela took every opportunity he could to perform solo missions. He gained increased proficiency in stealth, infiltration, assassination, and singular snatch and grab missions. He was known to his superiors as a consummate professional, very rarely failing to achieve his objective. During one of his more recent missions, Sela was assigned to take down an asari war criminal. The asari set herself up like a pirate queen on a base on Cyone and was disrupting fuel shipments. Sela was sent in to take her out by any means necessary. Her acute paranoia made Sela’s usual infiltration tactics almost useless, but he eventually managed to get just close enough. A heated battle ensued and the asari came close to killing him twice, though he eventually gained the upper hand. Hoping to take her alive, Sela made every attempt to subdue her, but the asari had other plans. Inevitably he had to kill her, but not before she’d fried his omni-tool so badly it almost cost him his arm. Feeling it only fair, Sela requisitioned hers, and, upon finding it a rather nice model, decided to keep it indefinitely. Personality Sela is known to be warm and friendly. He holds his pain close to him, and few if any will ever see it. Even if he doesn’t like you, it might be hard to determine, as he will be cordial and professional with even the most persistent antagonists. His ability to mask his inner emotions gave him a natural advantage at games like poker, and he does enjoy gambling when given the opportunity. It is difficult for him to pass up a wagered challenge. One of his favorite things to share with those close to him is a glass of mampoer, a kind of homemade moonshine native to his homeland. It is strong and kicks like a mule—especially for human alcohols, though is no equal to ryncol. While Sela would say that the mission is his top priority, if a mission ever required him to intentionally sacrifice one of his men, he might not be able to do it. It was for this reason he intentionally spent the last several years working mostly solo missions. Physical Description At roughly two meters tall, Sela towers above many of his peers. Add to that thickly honed muscles, and he definitely cuts an imposing figure. This is somewhat offset by his easy smile, which he is often seen sporting when not in uniform. Despite being in multiple combat scenarios over the course of his life, Sela sports no scars or marks. After becoming an N7 infiltration specialist, he had all identifying marks removed. While on duty he will either be found in his Alliance uniform or in his N7 armor. In addition to his omnitool, he wears a second bracelet on his other wrist which functions solely as a second omniblade when engaged. When not in uniform, Sela dresses rather dapper. He likes his clothes to accentuate his physique and prefers organic fabrics to synthetic ones. His clothing choices also tend towards more colorful fabrics, often with patterns inspired by his South African origins. Armament Sela utilizes an N7 Eagle heavy pistol, N7 Piranha shotgun and Black Widow sniper rifle, as well as dual omni-blades. His omni-tool is equipped with the combat ability Neural Shock, his armor with Tech Armor and Tactical Cloak generators, and his weapons with Carnage launchers. Category:Characters Category:Soldiers Category:Systems Alliance Category:N7 Category:Interplanetary Combatatives Academy Category:Humans